


A Fear of Nothing

by fallengodtier



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 03:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallengodtier/pseuds/fallengodtier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watanuki comes face-to-face with a strange and new spirit neither Yuko nor Doumeki has heard of, as well as facing his own feelings towards Doumeki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this over a year ago for a birthday gift for my friend. We were talking about it recently and she convinced me to dig up the flash drive it was on and post it here. I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for reading! :)

“I didn’t make that for you, I made it for Himawari-chan!” screeched a high school boy, red in his slightly angular face and waving his arms spastically.  
The boy was fairly pale, with round wire glasses perched on his narrow nose, which were in danger of sliding off. His jet-black hair shone in the afternoon sun, with a cowlick blowing softly in the wind. His outfit reminded one of a priest, though it was just his school uniform.   
The high-strung boy was yelling at another boy, with the same school uniform and jet black hair, but was quite a bit taller than the former. He lacked glasses, and his face was narrower than the other boy. He had a confident- but not arrogant- air about him. This boy was eating a kuri manju, and treated the other boy with the sort of slight irksomeness you would a fruit fly.  
“Didn’t you make more than one, Watanuki-san?” said the second boy after swallowing a bite of the kuri manju.  
“Of course I did! I’m not going to just make one, after buying all those ingredients!”   
Watanuki lifted up a large shopping bag, and held it open for the other boy to see. It was filled with delicious-looking kuri manju. The second boy’s eyes glanced into the bag.  
“Surely, you don’t expect Himawari-chan to eat all those herself?”  
“No, some are for Yuko-san. And I figured you’d be a pig and help yourself to a few, Doumeki-san.”   
“We better keep up a good pace from now on to make it to school on time,” said Doumeki, ignoring the insult.  
Watanuki let out a hmph and started to walk, taking long strides, but falling some paces behind Doumeki. The scenery, which neither boy took notice of, was typical for any walk to school in a borough on the outskirts of a large city. The grass was green, the sky was blue, the houses were in good condition: everything was calm.  
Watanuki casually glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened in terror.  
He screamed, startling an elderly man who walked out to get the paper. Watanuki broke out into a full-out sprint, not stopping until a block before the school. Doumeki had watched Watanuki pass him, with a deceivingly indifferent look in his eyes.  
Bent forward, hands on his knees, Watanuki was still attempting to catch his breath when Doumeki reached him.  
“I’m guessing you saw another spirit.”   
“Uh…of course…or I wouldn’t…have…taken off…like that.”   
Watanuki straightened himself, smoothed his uniform, and took another deep breath.   
“It was just a bunch of black mist, and it felt…like there was nothing at all…like everything had gone from the world.” Watanuki shuddered.  
Doumeki had been gazing at Watanuki intently, and waited a few seconds before offering an answer.  
“I have never heard of that before…maybe Yuko-san might’ve. Don’t forget to mention it to her when you go to the shop today.”  
“I won’t,” said Watanuki through his teeth.  
“See you and your kuri manju at lunch then.”   
Doumeki turned on his heel and began to stride down to his first period class.   
“See- hey!”   
Watanuki watched Doumeki turn right at the end of the hall, a smile twitching the corners of his indignantly agape mouth.

Watanuki walked into the opening of a wooden fence, and let himself in to a peculiar building.  
The wood building looked to be about two floors, with a porch overlooking the left side of the street. The roof covering the second floor was salmon pink, with a crescent moon figurine placed at the top. Two windows on the second floor, facing out into the street, had an ornate arched design on them. A tower-like addition with windows on all sides was connected to the second floor, with a crescent moon figurine on top of it as well, but its roof was a light forest green. The awning covering the porch on the first floor was the same light forest green as the tower-like addition. Two tall cherry blossoms trees, now in full bloom, stood on either side of the building.   
Watanuki had walked in through a mahogany door on the left of the house (or the right, if you were looking at it from the street). A thick arch of the green awning was above this door, with a golden circle hanging in the center.  
Light grey smoke wafted through the air inside. The place was a bit cluttered, with a wide variety of items, to the point where it looked like a curio shop. There were masks, swords, statues, and items the everyday person would have never seen or heard of before.  
“Yuko-san, I’m here!” yelled Watanuki as he set down his messenger bag.   
“Good. I’m in the lounge,” said a female voice.  
Nudging an elaborately-decorated trunk out his way, Watanuki made his way of the main room, and into a hallway. The hallway was empty, besides a beautifully designed rug hanging on the wall. Watanuki made a right turn at the end of the hallway, and pushing a scarlet curtain to the side, entered the lounge.  
A young-looking woman was lounging on a cherry red couch in the center of the room. Her raven black hair draped past her pale shoulders. She was wearing a tangerine robe with a tribal design. Her slender feet were perched on a stack of straw boxes; the woman took a drag from her smoking pipe, lazily eyeing Watanuki. Her expression perked up when her eyes fell on the shopping bag. She sat up, trying to peer into the bag.  
“Ooooh, what did you bring for me today, Watanuki-kun?”  
“I made kuri manju last night. Doumeki-san and Himawari-chan both said it was amazing.”  
Watanuki set the bag down cautiously in front of Yuko and quickly backed away, as if he expected her to rip the bag from his hands.  
Laughing, Yuko leaned forward and lifted the bag with the index finger and thumb of her left hand. She placed the bag of kuri manju on top of her stomach when she had lain back down on the couch. Yuko rummaged through the bag until she had found what she believed was the best kuri manju. She took a large bite, and a few crumbs fell onto her lap.   
“So, Watanuki-kun, I need you to clean out the storage room today.”  
“Huh?” Watanuki titled his head slightly to the right, since Yuko’s words had become muddled as she chewed her kuri manju. Yuko took a large swallow.  
“I need you to clean out the storage room today.”  
“Again?! Didn’t I do that last week?”   
“You know, Watanuki, you really shouldn’t waste your energy on all that yelling.”   
Watanuki let out a sigh.  
“Fine, fine.”   
Watanuki lazily waved his arm to assure Yuko, and made his way out of the lounge, and began striding down the hallway.  
However, Watanuki came to abrupt stop as soon as he came into the room, and then quickly wheeled himself around.   
“Yuko, I need to talk to you about something.”  
“Oh? Did you break something in the storage room?”   
“No- I came across some spirit I never encountered before this morning, and it didn’t sound familiar to either of us-”  
“Who is us?” A swirl of grey smoke floated out of the back room.   
“Me and Doumeki-san,” Watanuki said, stepping back into the lounge and standing in front of Yuko.  
“Anyway, we were walking to school, and I suddenly felt really odd, so I turned around, and there was this huge black mist.”  
“Doumeki-san’s presence didn’t prevent this spirit from coming near you?”  
“No-well- he was walking a bit ahead of me then.”  
“Ah, yes, I see.” Yuko took another drag from her exotic-looking pipe, and slowly blew the smoke out from in between her red lips.  
“So- do you have any idea what this thing was?”  
Yuko didn’t respond, but took another leisurely drag from her pipe. Watanuki frowned and tapped his foot twice.  
“Strange. I can’t think of a spirit-or anything else- like what you described…you said you felt odd?”  
“Yeah…it was saddening. Not the spirit itself, but how he made me feel…the…the lack of…anything.”  
Yuko tilted her head to the right. “Oh?”  
Watanuki crossed his arms, fidgeting slightly.  
“It felt like there was just this void…no emotion, no warmth…no anything, just nothingness.”  
“And this made you sad?”  
“Yeah, it made me feel…alone.”  
Yuko nodded, bringing her pipe to her lips. She inhaled thoughtfully, and then after a pause, exhaled in the same fashion.  
“Tell me if you see this spirit again, Watanuki-kun.”   
“I will. I promise.”  
A smile appeared on Yuko’s face.  
“Now, if you don’t want to clean the storage room, you can make some more kuri manju. I’m all out of it.”  
Her eyes drifted down towards the shopping bag Watanuki brought with him, now crumpled at the foot of the couch. The open palms alongside Watanuki turned into tightly-clenched fists.  
“You—“  
Yuko’s laughter seemed to drift through her shop, just like the sweet smoke from her pipe.


	2. Chapter 2

The rain pounding on the classroom windows drowned out the soft voice of Takahashi-sensei, turning his lecture on the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 into a mumbled mess of “czar,” “communism” and “the Great War.” All of the students were indifferent to the subject, with the exception of a history fanatic sitting on the edge of his seat.   
Watanuki stared dispassionately at the storm, letting his mind wander.   
Then, a blurry figure appeared across from the school, standing straight in the middle of an elderly couple’s front yard. It looked fairly tall, about 180 centimeters. The figure took a step forward, and Watanuki realized that its legs were bowed.   
Watanuki’s eyes widened as the figure came closer and closer to the school- yet the figure did not become any clearer. Its entire body was just a pitch black mass- which Watanuki found more disconcerting than the most monstrous face he could imagine. His eyes flickered from the figure to the rest of his class, which took no notice of the abnormality just outside their window.   
The figure approached the window, stretching its fingerless hand to the glass. At its touch, a black frost began to spread, engulfing the view of the outside world in mere seconds. Beginning to lose control over his panic, Watanuki whipped his head to look around his classroom. Now, he realized something; he couldn’t hear Takahashi-sensei, or the rain; in fact- he couldn’t even hear the ringing sound that comes with nothingness.   
Losing the paralysis that comes with fear, Watanuki flew out of his seat, out of the classroom, and into the hall. He paused outside of his classroom, unsure who he could turn to for help in this situation. After a second or two, he flung himself down the South staircase. Losing his footing, his body now parallel with the staircase and suspended in air, Watanuki set his hands in front of his face as he braced himself for impact.  
However, the first object Watanuki came in contact with was not cool tile, but a steady torso. Both Watanuki and the person fell backwards onto the floor with a loud thud.   
Watanuki kept his eyes closed and breathed in deeply. The person he landed on top of smelled sweet and felt warm, and reminded him of what he imagined a real home felt like.  
The person underneath Watanuki let out a soft moan. Watanuki’s eyes shot open, remembering his predicament, and threw himself off of the other person.  
“I’m really sorry. Something was attacking my classroom and I--” Watanuki said as he turned his head, but immediately stopped when he saw Doumeki was the one he had flew into.  
Doumeki had pulled himself up into a sitting position, and looked at Watanuki in his calm way.  
“What did you say was happening in your class?”  
“This person shaped thing- touched the window- black stuff- couldn’t hear- We need to save the other people in there!”   
Instinctively, Watanuki grabbed Doumeki’s hand. Doumeki lifted himself off the ground and sprinted with Watanuki into the World History classroom.  
Takahashi-sensei and the rest of the class turned their heads, a bit curious but not at all frightened, as Watanuki busted open the door.  
There was no black frost- or anything else, besides a few stubby fingerprints- on the window. The black figure was nowhere to be seen.   
“But- it- how-” Watanuki sputtered, scurrying across the room and pressing his face against the window.  
“I swear there-”   
“Watanuki-san, please quiet down and take your seat. If you are having hallucinations, please visit the school nurse, and do not drag your boyfriend into such matters,” said Takahashi-sensei in his apathetic voice, causing the majority of the class to snicker.  
“We are not-” Watanuki started as his face reddened, but cut himself off when he looked down and saw he was still clutching Doumeki’s hand.  
Letting go of Doumeki’s hand but still blushing furiously as he walked to his desk, Watanuki bowed his head, muttering, “I’m sorry, Takahashi-sensei.”   
“Are you sure you’re okay, Watanuki-san?” called Doumeki from the doorway. A look of concern marred his usually calm face.   
“I’ll be fine. See you at lunch.”  
“Oooo, Watanuki-san is going to have a romantic picnic with his boyfriend later!” sing-songed a large boy sitting in the back. A few students snickered again.  
“Alright, quiet down everyone,” scolded Takahashi-sensei as Watanuki opened his mouth to retaliate, but sat down instead.   
World History class slipped back into its monotony. The rain hitting the windows and the jumble of Takahashi-sensei’s voice made an odd yet melodic song.   
Staring out the window again, Watanuki tried to steady his pounding heart. He still felt the warmth from Doumeki’s hand, which was more soothing than the World History lullaby.   
“But then there was nothing there. NOTH-ING.”  
“Mmm.” Yuko slightly pursed her lips, mulling over what Watanuki just described. It sounded familiar, but whatever she was thinking of was blurred, like it had taken a deep sleep for too long, and was just opening its eyes.   
“In any event, I have something you need to deliver tonight,” said Yuko, breaking the tense and concentrated atmosphere that had formed.   
“What?! Are you seriously just going to-” screeched Watanuki indignantly.  
“No, I need to think it over. You know, my memory isn’t what it used to be.”   
“Well, maybe if you skipped out on the booze you guzzle every night-”   
“That’s irrelevant.”  
“It is perfectly relevant! In fact-”  
Yuko swatted away at the air.   
“Now, this is an important delivery.”  
“Is it booze?”  
“No- do you honestly think I would readily hand that over?”  
Watanuki shot Yuko his most disapproving look, only causing her to let out a chuckle. Smirking, Yuko reached down and grabbed a silver suitcase that was lying on the lounge’s floor. She handed it to Watanuki.  
“I need you to deliver this flute to a choir in town. I have the address written somewhere.”  
Yuko’s scanned the cluttered floor. Watanuki watched her eyes slowly travel over the colorful sea, carefully examining each square centimeter.  
“So, I just need to take this flute to some choir, and that’s it?”  
Watanuki eyed the suitcase, debating whether he should check to see if there was a flute in there.  
“Ah, here it is!”   
Yuko crossed the room and pulled on a corner of yellow paper, sticking out of a large spellbook.   
“And yes, that’s it.”   
Yuko handed Watanuki the paper, spun him around, and gave him a rough shove.  
“Now off you go!”  
“Hey!”   
Watanuki stumbled into the hallway, clutching the curtain to keep from hitting the floor. After straightening himself out, he marched out of Yuko’s shop and into the cool air.  
Watanuki began to walk in the direction of his school, looking at the address Yuko gave him.  
“I think it’s…yeah, that’s the street.”  
While he walked, Watanuki’s mind wandered to the events of the past few days. Though Watanuki found just about anything to do with the spiritual world unsettling, he found this to be far more frightening. Since neither Doumeki nor Yuko knew what was happening, the only solution seemed to be to let the cards fall where they may. And Watanuki was not someone who could be comfortable with that notion.  
Could it…no...what about…no, not that either…  
Watanuki’s mind was going through a maze of possibilities, each path leading to a dead end.   
Slightly frustrated and his insides squirming, Watanuki scrambled for something else- anything else- to think about. Doumeki’s face popped into his head.  
Doumeki had watched Watanuki closely all during lunch that day. When Watanuki went off on how it was creeping him out, Doumeki simply said he was wondering why Watanuki felt he needed to make up such a lavish story to hold his hand. This had led to more blushing, yelling, and arm-waving from Watanuki.   
Of course, Watanuki knew Doumeki was just worried, which caused the butterflies to return to Watanuki’s stomach. After all, worrying about someone usually meant you had feelings for this person, and when you had feelings for a person…  
Watanuki shook his head. Once he stopped, he realized he had travelled five blocks further than he needed to. Sighing, Watanuki spun around and continued walking.   
He stopped in front of a small, red brick building. He squinted at the address, recognizing the numbers from the paper. Tentatively, he knocked on the door.  
Watanuki heard footsteps approach the doorway after a few seconds. The door opened to reveal a red-haired woman, who looked to be in her thirties. Her speckled face and vibrant blue eyes gave off a warm friendliness.  
“Hello, do you need help with something?”  
“Oh, uh- Yuko told me to deliver this flute.”  
Watanuki held out the suitcase.  
“Oh, yes! Thank you! Would you like to come inside?”  
“Uh-sure.”  
Watanuki handed the woman the suitcase, and followed her inside. The floors were a polished dark wood, shining brightly wherever the sunlight hit them. There seemed to be a flower theme going in: pictures of flowers, vases full of bouquets, and flower-colored walls. Despite the gaudiness of the decorations, the inside felt homely.  
“By the way, you can call me Iris.”  
“Oh, I’m Watanuki-san.”   
Iris led Watanuki into a large room with a cold tile floor. All the tables and chairs were pushed against the sides of the room, and a group of eleven people sat around in an oval, chatting. Two pizza boxes and some soda bottles sat in the center.   
“You can help yourself to some pizza, if you want, while I go and get the payment,” Iris said as she turned and crossed the room.  
Watanuki stood to the side of the oval, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left.   
“The girl was just swinging in the park, and out of nowhere, this mist appears and covers her. And it was a sunny day, man, a sunny day.”  
Intrigued, Watanuki glanced at the person talking. It was a boy about his age, wearing a basketball uniform for a school Watanuki never heard of. The boy was talking to another boy wearing the same uniform.   
“So then the girl started to feel all bad, like, she was scared and wanted to cry and stuff. Anyways, the mist turned out to be a poltergeist.”  
A Poltergeist.  
Watanuki had finally found a lead, possibly a missing piece to the puzzle. He couldn’t ignore the similarities between the story and what happened to him the day before. A sudden mist, a sudden change in emotion…a poltergeist.   
A tap on the shoulder startled him. He turned around and saw Iris, grinning apologetically.   
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! This is for Yuko.”   
Iris handed Watanuki a wooden doll.   
Usually, Watanuki would find this strange, but he was still shaking from his discovery.   
“Thanks. See you later…Iris.”   
“Sure, stop by anytime!”   
Iris waved goodbye as Watanuki made his way out the door. The cool evening air surprised Watanuki when he opened the door.


	3. Chapter 3

“So we decided on a bake sale. I guess I’ll have to buy something from that adorable little bakery on the corner of my street. I saw the cutest cupcakes there the other day!”  
Himawari never stopped grinning as she talked, nor did the perkiness in her voice ever drop.  
“I can make some cupcakes for you, Himawari-chan,” said Watanuki, not bothering to worry about sounding too eager.  
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you, but I don’t want you to go to all that trouble.”  
“No, I want to.”  
“Thank you, Watanuki-chan! I’m sure the bake sale will be a success now!”  
Watanuki looked over at Doumeki. He was silently twirling his spoon in his miso soup, which looked like he hadn’t even touched it. Watanuki frowned. He knew Doumeki was picky, but still…  
“What are you gonna make, Doumeki-chan?” Himawari sounded the same as before, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes now.  
Doumeki slowly looked up, with an expression as if he was just walking up.  
“Oh, I was just gonna ask Watanuki-san to make me something.”  
“What?! Who do you think I am, your personal chef?!”  
Doumeki paused for a moment, observing Watanuki’s indignant expression before answering.  
“Yes.”   
“No! I will not make you anything! In fact, I will make you nothing!”  
Himawari giggled.  
“You two remind me of an old married couple.”  
Doumeki shrugged. “At least I’ll have a good dinner every night.”  
“At least?! You would be lucky to have me as your wife!”  
A few upperclassmen turned at this, staring at Watanuki. Watanuki immediately looked down, heat rushing to his face as he began shoveling his lunch into his mouth.  
Watanuki thought back on when he told Doumeki his poltergeist theory this morning. Last night, he had rushed back to Yuko’s to tell her, but changed his mind at the last minute. After all, she knew so much about the spiritual world, what could two basketball players even comprehend about it? She was already on her second bottle of sake when he got back anyways.   
He wasn’t sure what made him tell Doumeki instead of just keeping it to himself. To hear Doumeki’s opinion? But he doesn’t actually care what Doumeki ever thinks about anything. Or does he? Does Doumeki care what he thinks?  
Watanuki shook his head.  
“So brownies are better than cupcakes?” Himawari asked, actually looking a bit troubled.  
“What?” Watanuki looked up.  
“When I said-”   
Himawari’s voice was drowned out by the bell ringing.  
“Well, I’ll see you guys later. Hope you feel better!” Himawari waved to the two boys as she hurried inside.  
Caught off guard by confusion, Watanuki turned to Doumeki.  
“Did we say we were sick?”  
Doumeki shook his head.  
“We were both a bit out of it today. She probably noticed something’s bothering us.”  
Watanuki was afraid to ask the question that gnawed at him ever since he saw something in Doumeki’s eyes this morning, because he was afraid of getting either answer. Because each answer led to a different emotion, but each emotion led to the same fact. A fact Watanuki wasn’t ready to face. Bracing himself, he took a deep breath.  
“We’re going to be late,” Doumeki said, already heading towards the school.  
Watanuki watched Doumeki’s long, masculine strides until Doumeki shut the door behind him. Watanuki stared at the door for a few moments, looking wistful. He didn’t even notice he was alone.   
“Are you afraid of losing me?” Watanuki whispered, though his school’s empty courtyard had no answer.  
Watanuki rolled over, and laid on his right side. He felt as if sleep was deliberately eluding him tonight, leaping out of his reach as soon as his fingers grazed it. A car sped down his street, blasting the most awful music Watanuki had ever heard.   
Heaving a frustrated sigh, Watanuki began to roll back over to lie on his left side, but something caught his eye as he flipped.   
No moonlight was spilling in from his window. Actually, he couldn’t even see where his window was. He squinted towards where the window should have been, but saw only darkness.  
He felt terror rising up inside of him. Bolting upright, he fumbled for his glasses on his nightstand. After shoving them onto his face, he squinted again. Still only darkness.  
Watanuki climbed out of his bed and tiptoed across his room. Standing dead center in front of the window space, he felt his terror rise even further, almost suffocating him.   
He could make out the shape of the window now, but it was covered in something black. And then Watanuki remembered.  
The black frost.  
Watanuki clamored for the lightswitch, wanting it to be only his imagination, only his mind playing tricks on him. He hit the switch.  
Still darkness.  
Frantically, he flipped the switch repeatedly. Nothing. Nothing but darkness and fear.  
“It was working before! There’s-”  
He couldn’t breathe.   
Watanuki tried to claw off the hands that had to be wrapped around his throat, but there were none. He felt his panic rise. He began to twist and kick, fighting the air.  
He could feel himself losing consciousness. His thoughts were slowing down, like a train reaching a stop. He twisted, kicked, and clawed desperately.   
And then everything went blank.


	4. Chapter 4

Slowly, Watanuki opened his eyes.  
He was staring up at a rustic ceiling fan, which made a soft whoosh as it spun. He attempted to sit up. A sharp pain shot up his side, causing him to gasp.  
“Don’t push yourself.”  
Watanuki turned his head quickly enough to cause a bit of dizziness. He closed his eyes with a small groan.  
“Doumeki…what…”  
“I was worried about you, so I decided to stop by your apartment. You didn’t answer after I knocked a couple times, so I let myself in. As soon as I stepped in, I realized something was wrong.   
There was this weighty pressure in your apartment. It took a great deal of effort just to breath. It felt like I was being crushed. I found you on the floor in your room. You weren’t breathing, but I felt a faint pulse when I checked you. You started breathing again after I had done CPR for about 30 seconds.  
I knew we couldn’t stay there, so I dragged you out of your apartment. I was extremely light-headed by the time I got us into the hallway. After I steadied myself, I brought you up to my bedroom. We’ve been here for about 20 minutes.”  
Watanuki stared at Doumeki, trying to wrap his head around what he was just told.  
“So my apartment is…”  
“Still unsafe, yes. I’m going to gather a few of my grandfather’s tools and go back.”  
Doumeki stood up.  
“Wait!” Watanuki leaned over the bed and grabbed Doumeki’s pant leg. He ignored the pain in his side.   
“You can’t go alone.”  
Watanuki swung his legs over the side of Doumeki’s bed. He gasped in pain.  
“No. You still need to recover. I’ll be alright.” Doumeki turned and took a step away from the bed. Watanuki launched himself off the bed, landing on the floor with a loud thump and a pain-filled groan. He wrapped his arms around Doumeki’s legs.  
“What if you’re not alright?! Neither of us are completely sure what the hell is going on in there!”  
As Watanuki shrilly screamed, Doumeki pulled Watanuki’s arms off his legs and lifted Watanuki up so that he was at eye-level with him.  
“You--”  
And then Doumeki pressed his lips against Watanuki’s.  
Watanuki’s eyes widened in shock. What…wait, why should I care?  
He threw his arms around Doumeki’s neck, kissing him back. He ruffled Doumeki’s hair as Doumeki slipped his tongue into Watanuki’s mouth. Doumeki wrapped his arms around Watanuki’s waist. Watanuki let out a soft groan. They remained in that spot for a long time, until Doumeki pulled away.   
“I’ll be right back. I promise.”  
“Don’t! Doumeki—please!”  
Watanuki rushed after Doumeki, but Doumeki had always been much faster than him.  
The door shut swiftly behind Doumeki, and the sound of it closing seemed to echo.  
Doumeki sighed as the elevator went up another floor. He clutched the strap of his messenger bag. Watanuki had a point: How the hell was he going to fight something if he didn’t even know what it was?  
The elevator door opened.  
Doumeki took a deep breath, and then stepped off the elevator and into the hallway. Nothing seemed to be amiss. For a fleeting second, Doumeki thought that maybe whatever it was had gone, but then remembered that the hallway was completely fine before.  
He took another deep breath.  
Cautiously, he approached the door to Watanuki’s apartment. The absolute silence caused a ringing in Doumeki’s ears. He put his hand on the doorknob. It felt cool against his feverish skin. Doumeki turned the knob, paused to collect himself, then pushed open the door.  
Doumeki felt two hands shove him, though he could see only darkness. He flew across the hallway and hit the wall. He slid to the floor.   
Shakily, Doumeki pulled himself onto his feet.   
“What the…”  
An odd figure stood in the doorframe. It was in the shape of a slim person, other than its bowed knees. The figure didn’t have a face either; its entire body was pitch black. A soft smoke rose off of its body. It was the same figure Watanuki had seen in his World History class.  
“Who are you?”  
The figure took a step towards Doumeki.   
Doumeki inched down the hallway, while trying to think of something to do and keeping an eye on the figure at the same time. He pulled one of his grandfather’s old books out of his bag. The figure continued to take slow steps towards Doumeki.   
Should I create some sort of barrier? It should at least by me some time while I –  
Doumeki’s thought process halted when he realized the figure was directly in front of him.   
The figure placed one of its hands on top of Doumeki’s face. Doumeki tried to rip the hand off, but his hands would just glide through the figure, as if it were smoke.   
The black frost that had been on the school and Watanuki’s windows was beginning to form on Doumeki’s face. Within seconds, it covered his entire face. He could no longer breathe or see.  
Doumeki kicked and flailed his arms blindly, his hands and feet going through the figure whenever they managed to find it. Doumeki’s lungs were screaming for air, and he could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness. He felt the plush hallway rug underneath his fingertips, and realized he was on the ground. The figure may have even already left him. Left him to die there.  
“DOUMEKI!”  
Doumeki heard Watanuki scream and quick-paced footsteps as if he was underwater. He felt Watanuki’s slim fingers scramble to scrape off the black frost.   
He wanted to tell Watanuki it was useless, that he was already –  
And then Doumeki felt Watanuki’s fingernails scratch against one of his cheeks.  
Seeing the progress he had made, Watanuki quickened his pace. Doumeki could feel Watanuki’s teardrops landing on his face, one landing in his mouth as he inhaled.   
“Hold on, I almost got your eyes done… There, it’s melting!”  
Like an ink splot spreading on paper, Doumeki’s sight returned, gradually coming into focus.   
Watanuki was kneeling over Doumeki, his hands still working to scrape off the black frost remaining in Doumeki’s hair. Silent tears were still rolling down Watanuki’s face, landing on the school uniform Doumeki hadn’t bothered to change out of that day. Doumeki held the side of Watanuki’s face with his left hand.  
“Hey, I’m completely fine now.” Doumeki did his best to give Watanuki a smile. Watanuki gave a lop-sided smile back, another tear rolling down his cheek.   
“Thank God,” Watanuki whispered softly. He wrapped his arms around Doumeki. Their lips met.   
“It had completely disappeared?”   
“Yeah, my apartment was the exact same as it was the day before. Whatever it was hasn’t shown up again either…and it’s been…yeah, it’s been a month since it happened.”  
Yuko inhaled smoke from her pipe.   
“Hmph. How strange. Please actually tell me when it shows up, if it does again.”  
“I will, I will! I just…” Watanuki trailed off, not sure if he had a reason for not telling Yuko.  
“Wanted to solve a problem without me?”  
Watanuki thought for a moment, then nodded.  
“Well, remember that you don’t have to shoulder everything yourself.”  
Watanuki nodded again, staring down into his lap.  
“Wait, when I delivered the flute, I heard these two boys talking…”  
Yuko raised an eyebrow. “And?”  
“Well, they mentioned a poltergeist, and it sounded a bit like…”  
“Like the black mist?”  
Watanuki looked up. Yuko took a slow drag from her pipe.  
“Poltergeist are said to be energy created from a person…usually a person having difficult times in their life…”  
“Do you think I created it?”  
Yuko paused, taking another drag from her pipe.  
“Possibly. Or it could’ve been created by someone else and was attracted to you for one reason or another. Either way, it seems to be over now.”  
Watanuki stared down at his hands clasped together in his lap.   
“I have an anniversary gift for you.”  
Watanuki looked up.  
“Anniversary?”  
Yuko’s eyes glazed over the messy floor, her eyes stopping on a small gift bag.   
“There it is! Mokona, could you bring that little gift bag over her?”  
“Mokona sure will!”  
Mokona’s mouth clamped down on the bag’s handles. They flapped their long ears, which slowly rose them into the air and brought them over to Yuko. Mokona dropped the gift bag in Yuko’s hands.   
“Thank you, Mokona.” Yuko smiled and softly patted Mokona on the head.   
“You’re very welcome!”  
Yuko turned back to Watanuki.   
“You said so yourself, ‘it’s been a month…’ It’s your and Doumeki’s one-month anniversary!”  
Watanuki blushed.  
“Oh yeah, it is…”  
With her elbow resting on the table, Yuko placed her chin into the palm of her hand.  
“So tell me, how are you guys celebrating?...Are you going to have a sleepover?” Yuko winked.  
“No!” Watanuki’s blush deepened.  
“Anyways, happy anniversary, and I hope you both enjoy my gift.” Yuko winked again.   
Watanuki began to cautiously remove the tissue paper, nervous about what he was going to find. His hand grasped the gift, and he slowly pulled it out of the bag.   
Wide-eyed, Watanuki stared at the yaoi manga he had pulled out of the gift bag.   
“You’re welcome.”


End file.
